Day 5 - 1/24/10 - Denver to Steamboat Springs

"Where is the “good” in goodbye?" - Unknown

Today started off on a somber note. See, one of the greatest feelings about travelling is its ability to make you lose track of time and "a plan". I know lots of peoples travels do have a plan, but when you are in a car for 2,500 miles and delirium sets in, you lose track of a lot of things. The point I am making is that today was the day Colm had to go back to "a plan" or his normal routine life back in Boston. Today is the day I drop Colm off at the Denver airport. Adios Colm. It has been memorable http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgkZzmLrGJI

Part of me wants to stop writing because instead of writing about the adventures of two people travelling this sort of turns into an autobiography and I am not keen on that. I'll try and steer clear of too many deep thoughts and focus on the trip itself. I do suspect the blogs will become shorter from here on out so maybe that is good news to you busy people.

My trek from the Denver airport to Steamboat Springs was interesting. Steamboat is about 156 miles Northwest of Denver. If you look at a map of Colorado Steamboat is really in the middle of nowhere. But it just so happens that Steamboat is home to more U.S. Olympians than any other town in the United States. Pretty cool. When you leave Denver travelling west on I-70 you pretty much hit an ascend within ten minutes. It's quite a climb. I-70 winds you through some great scenery, tunnels that are cut into mountains and some descends that are scary. The 18 wheelers that go through here have their hazard lights on as they climb at very slow speeds and descend cautiously. Lots of runaway truck ramps on I-70. When you hit Silverthorne, CO you then connect with Route 9. Route 9 leads to Route 40 and both are long single lane roads that take you through the back country of Colorado. Here is a view http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ow8Xp7JGwSw. Not the dominant Rockies of Colorado, but some great back country. Some of the ranches along the way are impressive. And that song not only is a crowd pleaser at weddings (when 20 guys sing it in unison), but it fit this occasion perfectly. Music defines journeys like this.

Up until now I had not seen the likes of too much snowfall. Well that changed fast. Check this out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEdqewHYulU. This clip was along route 40, about 15 miles outside of Steamboat. Visibility was thin and I probably should not have recorded any of this part of the trip. As a matter of fact there are other videos where I drop the camera because of near white out conditions. Great for the mountains and skiing scene, but not good for driving. Some praise was in order for my Audi. Side note. I had to pass a plow somewhere before that video. Single lane highway, low visibility, not too smart, but it had to be done.

At about 4pm Sunday January 24th I arrived in Steamboat. Here is my arrival, but beware I chose an adrenaline enriched song. Not that I needed additional adrenaline for my first view of the mountain (you can see it off in the distance) but it just fit for me. Drown out the volume, sorry about the wind noise, do what you have to do, but just know there is an unrivaled feeling for arriving at any ski mountain. I remember the same exact feeling when I was young making the trek to Sugarloaf (Maine) with the Cape Elizabeth crew. Here it is and good night from Steamboat Springs Colorado! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrAgGxnfrXo